Rain all night

It rained all night.

When Yang Jian woke up, it was six forty in the morning. The light filtering through the gap in the curtains was a grayish white.

He had barely slept after returning from Sagamihara last night, partly because he had become something inhuman.

He ran through the Petri Dish on the second basement level in his mind, along with the three glass containers behind the iron door.

A finger, grayish-purple fragments, slowly writhing black veins.

Those things weren't cursed spirits, at least not in the conventional sense.

Kusumoto was conducting experiments using funds Jujutsu Headquarters had approved for "sealing maintenance."

The money trail was a lead.

Shiu Kong should already have started looking into the suppliers and their corporate registration details.

Yang Jian sat up, pulled the Chopping Knife from beneath his pillow, and hefted it.

The smell of rust on the handle was faint, almost imperceptible.

He slipped the knife back into its black cloth bag, got up, and opened the curtains.

The sky was still overcast.

The clouds hung low, and the wind bent the trees in the courtyard to one side. The air smelled of damp earth.

His phone vibrated.

It was a message from Shiu Kong, just one line: "Confirmed the Ichikawa site. Similar layout, one basement level, twelve Petri Dishes, no separate container room.

Two guards working shifts. Changeovers at four a.m. and four p.m."

Yang Jian replied, "Got it," then slipped his phone back into his pocket.

When he went to the cafeteria, Suguru Geto was already there, sitting by the window with a bowl of miso soup in front of him. He hadn't touched his chopsticks.

Yang Jian got a set meal, walked over, and sat across from him.

"Morning." Suguru Geto glanced up.

"Morning." Yang Jian snapped apart his disposable chopsticks. "You don't look too good."

"Didn't sleep well last night." Suguru Geto picked up his spoon and stirred the soup.

"Had some things on my mind."

Yang Jian said nothing and lowered his head to eat.

There weren't many people in the cafeteria. Outside the window, the wind sent the leaves rattling.

"Yang Jian." Suguru Geto set down his spoon. "You went out last night."

It wasn't a question.

Yang Jian chewed his rice without looking up. "How did you know?"

"There was a smell in the hallway. Rainwater mixed with cedar. There aren't any cedar woods near Jujutsu High."

Yang Jian swallowed his rice and looked up at him.

Suguru Geto's expression was calm, but there was something else in his eyes.

It wasn't an accusation. It was more like confirmation.

"Yeah, I went out to take care of something," Yang Jian said.

Suguru Geto fell silent for a few seconds, then lifted his bowl and took a sip of soup.

The spoon struck the side of the bowl with a faint clink.

"I went to Jujutsu Headquarters yesterday to submit my mission report and a follow-up plan for what happened in Shibuya."

"What did they say?"

"They classified it as a cursed spirit rampage and blamed mistakes made by the sorcerers on-site." Suguru Geto set the bowl back on the table. "Ten people died. Two field sorcerers and eight covert sentries. The report said they 'tragically died in the line of duty during suppression efforts.'"

Yang Jian said nothing.

"Do you know the most ridiculous part?" Suguru Geto looked out the window. "I wrote that report. I personally turned the deaths of ten people into a different story."

"Then why didn't you write the truth?"

"Because the truth wouldn't help." Suguru Geto turned to look at Yang Jian. "The truth is that you killed them to take Sukuna's Finger. But if I put that in writing, Jujutsu Headquarters would immediately classify you as a Special Grade threat and put out a nationwide warrant.

Satoru Gojo couldn't protect you, and neither could I. Then what? You'd kill more people, and Jujutsu Headquarters would send more people to their deaths.

It would end up becoming an endless war of attrition."

Yang Jian set down his chopsticks. "So you chose the version that would help."

"Yes," Suguru Geto said. "I chose the version that would let things settle down."

The cafeteria went quiet for a few seconds.

The clatter of plates came from farther away.

"Do you think protecting ordinary people is a righteous cause?" Yang Jian suddenly asked.

Suguru Geto paused. "What do you mean?"

"Exactly what I said. Do you protect non-sorcerers because you think it's right, or because someone told you it was right?"

Suguru Geto didn't answer right away.

He stared at the bowl of miso soup in front of him. It had already gone cold, and a thin film had formed on the surface.

"At first... it was what my teacher taught me," he said. "Principal Yaga said the purpose of jujutsu sorcerers was to protect the weak.

Later, I went through a lot. I saw ordinary people killed by cursed spirits, and sorcerers sacrifice themselves to save others. I thought... it really was the right thing to do."

"And now?"

"Now?" Suguru Geto tugged at the corner of his mouth. "Now I think this world might not deserve to be protected."

Yang Jian said nothing.

"But I can't bring myself to say that," Suguru Geto continued. "Because I'm still doing this job. I'm still swallowing those disgusting cursed spirits, still writing those reports full of lies, still pretending to believe in that 'righteous cause.'

Yang Jian, do you know what that feels like?"

"What?"

"Like eating a bowl of rice that's already gone bad," Suguru Geto said, his expression darkening. "You know it's spoiled, but you still have to eat it. Because if you don't, you'll starve."

Yang Jian picked up his cola and took a sip.

"Then have you ever thought about... not eating that bowl of rice?"

Suguru Geto looked at him.

"Wouldn't everything fall apart?"

"Then let it fall apart," Yang Jian said. "The world's already a mess. If you insist on forcing it into a neat set of rules, you'll only wear yourself to death."

Suguru Geto said nothing. He looked down at his hands, with their long fingers and defined knuckles. Those hands had crushed the heads of countless cursed spirits, and saved plenty of lives too.

"I can't do it... I can't be as... decisive as you."

"Then take it slowly," Yang Jian said. "Start tonight."

"Tonight?"

"There's a site in Ichikawa." Yang Jian lowered his voice. "Another of Kusumoto's cultivation facilities. I'm going to clean it out tonight. Are you coming?"

Suguru Geto's pupils contracted. "Are you going to kill the guards?"

"No killing. I'll erase their memories, just like in Sagamihara. But the things in the Petri Dish need to be dealt with. They're not cursed spirits. Leaving them there would be trouble."

Suguru Geto was silent for a long time.

The wind outside eased a little, and the rattling leaves settled into a soft rustle.

"I'll go."

Yang Jian nodded and went back to eating.

At three in the afternoon, Shiu Kong sent detailed information on the Ichikawa site.

An old factory, one basement level, with the entrance behind the boiler room.

Two guards, both Grade 3 Sorcerers, paid monthly in cash. Neither had ever met the client.

Twelve Petri Dishes, with the things inside still growing. The climate control system consisted of three industrial air conditioners, keeping the temperature at a constant eighteen degrees.

Yang Jian forwarded the information to Suguru Geto with a message: "Ten tonight. Meet at Jujutsu High's back gate."

Sometime after four, Satoru Gojo wandered over to Yang Jian's dorm room carrying a bag of daifuku.

He pushed the door open, came in, and tossed the bag onto Yang Jian's bed.

"Shoko asked me to bring these to you. She said you've been looking too pale lately and need some sugar."

Yang Jian glanced at the bag. "Where is she?"

"In the Dissection Room, studying that Cursed Energy Core you gave her." Satoru Gojo dropped into the chair and stretched out his long legs. "It's pretty interesting. She said its structure is completely different from an ordinary cursed spirit core, like some kind of mutant."

"What can she find out from it?"

"No idea, but she said she could write at least three papers on it." Satoru Gojo smiled. "Oh, right. Jujutsu Headquarters held a meeting this afternoon.

Kusumoto got chewed out over Shibuya, but he wasn't disciplined. Someone's protecting him."

"Who?"

"Not sure. There's too much murky stuff going on at the top. I can't be bothered to look into it." Satoru Gojo yawned. "It doesn't have anything to do with you anyway. You're just a Free Associate now."

Yang Jian said nothing.

He opened the bag, took out a Strawberry Daifuku, and bit into it.

It was a little cloyingly sweet.